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US Midterm Elections Driven By Voters’ Frustration Over Inflation Under Donald Trump
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3 Western Mainstream2 Western Alternative1 OtherThis article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Economy ranks as voters' top issue in NBC poll, inflation directly influencing midterm choices. Voters blame Trump's tariffs and Iran conflict for higher prices, fueling dissatisfaction ahead of elections.
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Voters blame inflation
American voters headed to the polls for the U.S. midterms this week with economic frustration centered on inflation and Donald Trump’s management of it. Kathryn Anne Edwards, a labour economist and policy consultant in Houston, said the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment showed that “Right now it's at 74 per cent,” referring to the share of Americans saying the government is doing a bad job managing the economy. NBC News Decision Desk Poll results put the economy at the top of mind for voters, and the poll found a majority say they are deeply frustrated with President Donald Trump.
Francis Généreux, lead economist at Desjardins Group, wrote that “For many voters, the economy is now synonymous with inflation,” as rising prices outweighed job reports, housing affordability and stock market performance. RBC’s team of economists Mike Reid, Carrie Freestone and Imri Haggin argued that “GDP is growing above trend, consumer spending remains robust, layoffs trudge along at ultra-low levels, and we've seen a stable unemployment rate over the past year,” even as voters reported feeling the pinch.
Gas, mortgages, housing
NBC News tied voter frustration to cost-of-living pressures, saying inflation jumped to 3.7% in September while wages rose 3% from a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. AAA data showed regular gas prices averaged $3.12 per gallon when Trump started his second term and $2.98 right before the war, and NBC News said they were now well above $4. Freddie Mac data in the NBC News charts showed the 30-year fixed rate dipped below 6% just before the Iran war, but the 30-year fixed rate was “well above 7% now,” with the 15-year fixed rate “jumping above 6%.”
The National Association of Realtors reported the average price of a single-family home was $422,700 in September, and NBC News said that paired with mortgage rates above 7% many Americans were getting priced out. The National’s account of the campaign also pointed to cost-of-living voting priorities, saying “Forty-seven per cent of registered voters said the cost of living would be the single most important factor in their votes this week.”
Midterms and what follows
Reuters described the midterm eve as a contest where voters were focused on the economy, with high and rising prices a key issue and many blaming tariffs and the Iran war for inflation. Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management, said “Sentiment is the bigger driver of election outcomes,” while he described confidence as the bigger driver of markets. Reuters also reported that weekly unemployment insurance claims were near a 57-year low and that the unemployment rate was 4.2% in September.
The New York Times said Democrats were hammering President Trump for starting a war with Iran and instituting tariffs that drove up prices, while Republicans insisted the fundamentals were stronger than before they took power two years ago. Dwayne Stanford, a father of eight in suburban Cincinnati, said, “The prices of everything we normally buy have gone up and up dramatically,” as he chose only Democratic candidates during early voting in his state.